What's the Naga connection to Ibobi-Chidambaram cold war ?

 

What's the Naga connection to Ibobi-Chidambaram cold war ?

"Ibobi had pushed a line if Muivah visits native village, that land will go to Nagas"

New Delhi 

Blood is thicker than water. That's no rocket science. N Biren Singh must have had a blast when he got an opportunity on Tuesday to turn the table against P Chidambaram and the Congress party for the present 'Manipur mess'.

But people may say there is something called Meitei-Brotherhood; just like we have Tangkhul brotherhood, Tamil brotherhood or Bengali brotherhood !

Probably an Economics expert Chidambaram - who had accidentally become India's Home Minister after Shivraj Patil had to resign - could not grasp all that.

Like many wise Congressmen and women and intellectual Netas such as Jairam Ramesh; Chidambaram tweeted targeting Manipur's beleaguered Chief Minister. His missive was quite normal - and typical Congress-like.

'Nagaland Page' link

“It is more understanding: that the Meitei, the Kuki-Zo and the Naga can live together in one State only if they have genuine regional autonomy," he tweeted.

He also advised Prime Minister Narendra Modi "to give up his obstinacy, (and) visit Manipur".

He also wrote 'wisely' : "It is more wisdom: acknowledging that Mr Biren Singh, the chief minister, is the cause of the crisis" ,,, and that he should be removed.

Chidambaram might have got away with that had he known that even the word 'autonomy' for Kukis and Nagas do not go well with an overwhelming section of people in Manipur.

Hence Chidambaram's missive provoked Ibobi to swing into action. Moreover, the tweet had come from a leader whom he disliked. So he called up Congress president Mallikarjin Kharge and Chidambaram's tweet was easily "deleted".

But more importantly, there is a Naga connection to the Ibobi-Chidambaram cold war that many had almost forgotten. 

One should note that Biren Sngh is not the first 'polarised' Meitei leader. Some years back O Ibobi Singh had outsmarted the suave Chidambaram and to an extent even NSCN-IM leader Thuingaleng Muivah.

During UPA-regime, NSCN-IM general secretary wanted to visit his native village Somdal and PC (Home Minister) had green signaled the move on humanitarian grounds. 

A cool customer Ibobi during Delhi meet agreed about the plan and on return played up the Meitei people's most powerful card -- territorial integrity of Manipur.  The argument being - if Muivah comes to his native village, that portion of land would be taken away by 'Nagas'.

All these things do not happen only in Manipur or with the Meitei leaders. 

Biren Singh made a blistering attack on the former union minister and called him the  “root cause” of the present crisis in the state.

“I will say it openly. When he (Mr Chidambaram) was the (Union) Home Minister in the then Congress government, here in Manipur (Congress’s) O Ibobi was the Chief Minister. 

During their time, they brought a Myanmarese foreigner, Mr Thanglianpau Guite, a Myanmar-born who himself admitted in an interview that he contested an election for MP in Myanmar. 

That person is the chairman of the Zomi Revolutionary Army (ZRA) based in Myanmar,” he said.

ends